title: Changes in pulmonary function measures following a passive abdominal functional electrical stimulation training program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate the effect of a passive abdominal functional electrical stimulation (AFES) training program on unassisted respiratory measures in tetraplegia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal feasibility study.
  
  
  METHODS
  National spinal injuries unit in a university teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve patients with tetraplegic spinal cord injury, who could breathe independently, with reduced vital capacity and no visible abdominal movement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three weeks of abdominal muscle conditioning using transcutaneous AFES.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced exhaled volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF), and maximum exhaled pressure (MEP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean (SD) FVC increased by 0.36 l (0.23) during training (P = 0.0027). Mean (SD) FEV1 and PEF tended to increase by 0.18 l (0.16) and 0.39 l/seconds (0.35), respectively, but this was not significant. No significant change was found in the outcome measures during a 1-week pre-training control phase and during a 3-week post-training phase.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The increase in FVC over the training period and the absence of change before or after training suggest that passive abdominal FES training can be used for respiratory rehabilitation in tetraplegia.
authors.affiliation: University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. a.mclachlan.1@research.gla.ac.uk
authors.forename: Angus J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McLachlan
authors.forename: Alan N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: McLean
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Allan
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gollee
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012132:Respiratory Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult